The National Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke has tackled the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba for joining the 2023 presidential race amidst the challenges in the country’s educational sector.
The ASUU Chairman said in a country where things were normal, the Minister should have been picked up and questioned by security operatives on how he got ₦100m to purchase the presidential forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Osodeke, he wonders how Nwajiuba, who has not been able to solve the problem of his own Ministry (education) alone, wants to solve the problems of the entire country.
He also called out the government for failing to meet the demands of ASUU, adding that the government should be blamed for the strike.
“In a normal crime, a minister should have been invited by security to show how he raised ₦100 million and if he had paid tax for such an amount. But we are in a country where anything goes; it sounds somehow that he can’t solve the problem in his ministry but wants to rule a country; that tells a lot.
For us, it’s not about one person but the government; we should not personalize it. ASUU is on strike because the government could not meet its demands and not about an individual,” Osodeke said in a chat with Daily Post correspondence.
The ASUU Chairman also said Nigerians should not vote for people who have, by previous actions, demonstrated that they can’t lead this country.
Osodeke urged Nigerians to stand up during the 2023 elections and vote for people who believe in Nigeria.
He said: “That’s what we have been saying all along. Have you seen any governor building primary or secondary schools lately? But they want to build a university to win elections and when they can’t fund it.
Nwajuiba and co are just raising money for campaigns; it’s a very sad development for the country, and we expect all Nigerians to rise up during this election and vote for people who can run this country, people who live here and go to hospitals here; those are the kind of people we should be looking out for.
Nigerians should rise up and elect people who believe in Nigeria and not people who come here to collect money and go abroad.”
